


He's just not that into you

by deblond



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Misunderstandings, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-16
Updated: 2013-07-16
Packaged: 2017-12-20 09:09:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/885505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deblond/pseuds/deblond
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. Louis works at an ice cream parlour for the summer and Harry is the king of mixed signals.</p>
            </blockquote>





	He's just not that into you

**He’s just not that into you**

Louis’ life can’t be this pathetic.

It’s Friday night and he’s been staring for fifteen minutes at a weird red stain on the floor trying to find out what caused it. He’s leaning towards a mix of strawberry and vanilla ice cream, two of their most popular flavours. That or one of his previous co-workers lost his nerve and stabbed a kid right there, between the counter and the ice-cream dispensers. Louis doesn’t rule that option out. And honestly, he can’t blame them if that’s the case, the costumers can get very whiny and fussy at an ice-cream parlour, surprising as it might seem.

Why his boss feels the need to keep the ice-cream shop open that late at night is something beyond Louis’ comprehension but he doesn’t question it. He just shows up when he’s supposed to and does the minimal work for the minimum salary. Of course that doesn’t mean that he’s not bored out of his mind, after being behind the counter for hours without any costumers showing up.

He looks at the clock and sighs; only half an hour and he can go home. Not that he has anything better to do at home, mind you, but at least there he doesn’t have to stand with a stupid yellow uniform (that includes a really ugly hat) and what may very well be blood on the floor.

The bells above the door ring indicating the entrance of a customer. Louis hopes that it’s not a stoner looking for a place in where to relieve his munchies.

“Hello?” a deep voice says.

“Yes!” Louis turns around to attend the costumer and promptly falls on his face. From the floor he can see that the stain (the one that has caused his slip) is actually strawberry syrup. Huh, how about that.

“Oh my God, are you ok?” The voice seems concerned and his owner must be a really good person ‘cause Louis would be rolling on the floor in laughter by now.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Louis says from the floor. He realizes that as much as he’d liked to he can’t stay there forever and stands up. “Hi! Can I help you?” he chirps forcing a smile that freezes on his face when he takes a good look at the costumer.

Of course. Of course the first time that a fit guy comes into the place he falls down in front of him. That’s just his life. He shouldn’t be allowed to interact with normal human beings.

“Are you sure you’re ok, mate?” the guy asks again but Louis is staring at his wide, green eyes and can’t be bothered to reply. “You didn’t hurt yourself?”

Louis shakes his head. “Only my pride,” he answers, making the boy laugh and oh my God, it’s that a dimple? Louis wants to die. But he has to finish his shift first. “So, what can I do for you?” he mentally cringes when he realizes how that sounded.

“Well, I wanted an ice-cream. I don’t know if you can do something about that,” he says, green eyes sparkling with mirth.

“I think I can manage.” Louis winks at him and then instantly regrets it. He doesn’t want to be the creepy ice-cream vendor who can’t keep it in his pants.

But the fit guy just smiles wider, making his dimples more noticeable, and bites his lip without looking away. Which, ok.

It takes Louis twice as long as normal to make Fit Guy his ice cream, and he tries to tell himself to get a grip. He’s been doing this job since the beginning of the summer, he sure can handle making a simple ice cream cone. And it’s not the first time he sees a good-looking guy (ok, maybe he doesn’t remember the last time he saw a guy as hot as this one but he’s sure that they exist somewhere).

“There you go,” he says once he’s done, handling Fit Guy his ice-cream.

“Thank you.” Fit Guy takes the ice cream and licks it tentatively. Louis grips the counter so tight he thinks his fingers are gonna leave a mark. “How much do I owe you?”

“Oh, don’t worry! It’s on the house.” So apparently he is the creepy ice-cream vendor who can’t keep it in his pants. Good to know. Fit Guy is insisting on paying so Louis adds, “I was about to close anyway, no one has to know.”

“Why do you keep the place open so late anyway?”

“Well if we hadn’t you wouldn’t be enjoying your ice-cream right now.” And he’s enjoying it alright. With the heat, it has started to melt and Fit Guy licks at his fingers to stop it. It makes Louis think about licking him ‘til he’s gasping and then bending him over the counter--  ok he needs to stop that thought right there (what the hell it’s wrong with him? He really needs to get laid, he decides, he’s starting to lose it). “What are you even doing here on a Friday night?”

“I was craving something sweet,” Fit Guy says, and he doesn’t look the slightest bit embarrassed about it.

“Glad I could be of service,” Louis mutters (rather stupidly) watching Fit Guy finish his cone in two bites. That surely shouldn’t be that hot.

And now he’s staring. Fit Guy notices him looking but he just smiles, “Thanks for the ice cream. It was delicious. See you, Louis.” And he’s out of the door.

When Louis stops fantasizing about his ass (he’s wearing some very tight jeans and he doesn’t really have much of a butt but somehow it works for him) he realizes that he called him by his name. A stranger that Louis hasn’t seen before (he would definitely remember) knows his name (which he hasn’t told him). Well that’s not good.

He feels really daft when he remembers that the stupid uniform includes a tag pinned to his chest with his name in big pink letters. So, really, Fit Guy just knows how to read.

Good to know.

  
\--

 

“Honey, I’m home!” There’s no response, the flat in complete silence. It’s not surprising being so late but then again, it’s Friday and summer, not even Liam can be sleeping already. “Oh my God, are you serious?”

“What?” Liam doesn’t even raise his head from his comic to acknowledge him. Louis needs to find new friends, ones that don’t spend their nights reading comics and eating nachos.

“You can’t spend your night reading comics and eating nachos.”

“I bought it this afternoon! I have to know how it ends,” Liam says, like that’s some kind of excuse.

“I don’t care. It’s really sad and it makes me sad.”

“Well you’re not exactly partying the night away either, you know?” Louis misses the days when Liam didn’t confront him and just let him have the last word. It sure isn’t like that now. Usually he feels really proud about having corrupted his friend with his sarcastic ways, except when Liam uses it against him.

“That’s exactly the problem,” he says. “I need to go out. I need to get laid.”

“Are you propositioning me?” Liam laughs at his own joke but Louis it’s not amused. He needs to put an end to his dry spell otherwise he will hump the next mildly good looking guy that he sees.

“I’m gonna make some tea,” he decides, and goes to the kitchen to put the kettle on.

“It’s 2 AM.” Really, Liam should be used to Louis’ antics at this point.

“Good time for tea!”

  
\--

 

As if his conversation with Liam was some kind of signal, Louis gets a call the next day from Niall.

“Nialler! How are you, mate?” Louis met him in Film class last semester and although they missed a lot of lectures together and he’s not quite sure how Niall even passed, they got on really well and the lad it’s always up for having fun.

“Doing good, man, how ‘bout you?” They haven’t seen each other since the day they went out to celebrate finishing their exams a few weeks ago (and that was a good night, at least the parts that Louis can remember) and Louis has actually missed his friend and his permanent enthusiasm for life.

“You know, enjoying the summer holidays.”

“So, I actually was calling you ‘cos a friend of mine invited me to the opening of some club tonight and told me to bring as many people as possible, you up for it?”

Louis can’t believe his luck. “Niall, when I see you I’m gonna kiss you.”

“Is that a yes then?” Niall asks amused.

“Hell yes! I’ll bring Liam though, is that ok?” God knows he needs to go out as much as Louis does.

“Sure mate. Told you, the more, the better.”

“Ok, see you there then.”

“Alright, Lou, take care.”

It occurs to Louis later, that maybe he shouldn’t have acted that desperate for simply being invited to a club. It’s not like he has to impress Niall or anything, but there’s a difference between being a loser and everyone knowing he is one. Oh, well.

  
\--

 

The club is already packed when Liam and Louis arrive and Liam starts nagging at him about taking two hours to get dressed and making them so late.

“We’re fashionably late, Liam,” Louis explains waving at the security guard (who doesn’t even ask for his ID. Louis doesn’t know how to feel about that) and going inside. “Or do you want to be the first one there? This way all the hoy guys are already inside.”

“It’s the whole purpose of tonight for you to get laid?” Liam has to shout for Louis to hear him above the loud music.

Louis doesn’t bother answering ‘cause, honestly. Instead he heads towards the bar to order a drink. “We should look for Niall, say hello.”

Liam nods, scanning the club while the waitress gets them their drinks. Louis doesn’t event try, he would never admit it but he’s too short to find anyone between the bodies of people dancing unless they are in direct line of sight.

They don’t see Niall, however, they are invited to dance by some girls that look about their age and they spend some time with them. None of them even tries anything beyond dancing with Louis, clearly seeing he’s not interested, so maybe that’s why he has fun with them. After a while of goofing off, Louis goes over to the bar again, leaving Liam very entertained by a blonde girl (and how is that fair? He is the one that needs a shag, and Liam is the one getting laid tonight, by the look of things).

“What can I get you, love?” So maybe things aren’t so bad after all. The waitress has been replaced by a fit waiter and he’s checking Louis out blatantly.

“Surprise me,” Louis says leaning on the counter. The guy raises his brow, gaze fixed on Louis’ lips and yes, this is definitely good.

He gets Louis a tall glass with a blue cocktail. “On the house,” he says with a wink. Louis takes a sip of the drink and has to repress a grimace. It tastes awful. “You like it?” The waiter seems hopeful so Louis forces a grins and nods. The guy’s cute enough to make drinking a terrible (really terrible) drink worth it.

Luckily, someone else asks for the barman’s attention and with a hurried ‘be right back’ and a meaningful glance, the guy heads over to attend the rest of his costumers. Louis takes the occasion to spill his drink on the ground, he may be desperate but he’s not that desperate to drink that. He’d like to conserve his good health, thank you very much.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to do that,” a husky voice says from behind him. Louis turns around startled. He slips on the drink he just spilled (and isn’t that ironic) and he would have fallen on his ass if the owner of the voice hadn’t catch him.

Louis looks up into green eyes and isn’t even surprised to find Fit Guy. That is just how his life works.

“Hi,” Fit Guy says, his arms still around Louis’ waist and he’s not gonna be the idiot that steps away, the guy smells amazing. “No ice cream tonight?”

“I got the night off,” Louis mutters without looking away from his eyes. Why does he always have to make an ass out of himself when this boy is around? It’s not fair.

“So, why were you throwing away your drink?” Fit Guy asks, finally dropping his arms and taking a step away. Louis doesn’t like that and he almost pouts but at least now he can think more clearly.

“That was not a drink. I’m pretty sure rat poison is one of the main ingredients,” Louis answers, looking at the offending now empty glass.

Fit Guy laughs loudly. Louis shivers at the sound. “I’m pretty sure is not.”

“Hey! You liked it then?” is the waiter again and he’s looking at Fit Guy (and how he’s closer than necessarily to Louis) warily. “Want another one?”

“No, don’t worry-“ But he’s already gone to prepare Louis another terrible drink. Next to him, Fit Guy laughs amused and when Louis glares at him he smiles sheepishly.

“There you go.” The waiter is still eyeing Fit Guy crossly but Fit Guy smiles innocently, unaffected, and doesn’t back off. Louis wonders if they’re about to fight for him. The idea pleases him more than it should.

Finally, the waiter mutters something under his breath that Louis doesn’t catch and leaves to the other end of the bar.

Not disappointed at all, Louis turns to Fit Guy raising an eyebrow expectantly but he just smirks and says, “Enjoy your drink.” 

So Louis ends up by himself in the middle of the bar with a terrible and possible lethal drink in his hands. Not at all how he expected this night to go.

  
\--

 

A couple of drinks (real, not poisonous drinks) later finds Louis drunkenly dancing in the middle of the club. He hasn’t seen Niall, or Liam for that matter, but there’s a good-looking guy pressing into his back and Louis is not above a quickie in the bathroom. He’s about to turn around to ask the guy in question when he hears a loud laugh to his right. Fit Guy is dancing goofily and laughing with another lad, and ok, if he’s with him there’s no way Louis can even compete. The boy is just, well, gorgeous, tan skin and high cheekbones, and tattoos covering his arm. Come think of it, they make a good pair, both insanely hot.

He doesn’t realize he’s staring until Fit Guy sees him, but instead of sneering at him, he just looks at Louis, green eyes fixed on his. Louis feels like he can’t move away, can’t even breathe, under that stare. He vaguely hears the guy he was dancing with asking if he wants to get out of there but he pays no attention to him.

After what could be minutes or hours, Fit Guy says something to his friend and heads over where Louis is. Louis stays rooted to the place waiting for him to reach him.

“Do I always have to fight with your admirers to talk to you?” he says and Louis notices that he’s much more sober than Louis. That’s gonna end well. He also notices that the guy he was dancing with is gone, probably tired of being ignored. Oh, well.

Louis shrugs. “They simply can’t resist my charm, Fit Guy, what can I do?”

“What did you just call me?” Fit Guy smiles, green eyes twinkling with amusement. Louis frowns, oh right, his name is probably not Fit Guy. “I’m Harry,” he says, as if reading Louis’ mind.

“I’m Louis.”

“I know,” Fit G- Harry doesn’t stop smiling. “Do you want to go get a drink?”

Louis realizes that they are in the middle of the dancing floor just standing there, and nods.

“I’m not sure you should drink anything more though,” Harry says when they’ve reached the bar. “You look kind of tipsy already.”

“I’m fine,” Louis replies with what he hopes is a seductive smile. “You don’t have to worry.” He licks his lips and Harry follows the movement with his eyes. Good.

“What can I get you two?”

“Oh my God, not again,” Louis moans when he sees that it’s the same waiter as before. “Just anything except that disgusting blue cocktail from earlier, please.”

Harry bursts into laughter but manages to say, “Just two beers, please.”

The waiter gets them their beers all the while glaring at Louis like he just offended him terribly, which, the drink was awful, he’s sure someone has to have told him that by now.

“I think now he’s definitely put some rat poison in your drink. Or at least he has spit on it,” Harry says, still laughing. He has a really nice laugh, Louis loves listening to it.

“Yeah, I don’t think I’m gonna drink that.”

Harry doesn’t touch his beer either and it should be awkward, both of them standing there without drinking or dancing but somehow it isn’t.

“So, are you here all by yourself?”

“Was that a pick-up line?” Louis asks. “’Cos it was awful, I’m surprised it has worked for you before.” He’s not sure, but it seems like Harry’s blushing. He shouldn’t find that cute (or hot). “And no, I’m supposed to be here with a friend but he found some girl at the beginning of the night and abandoned me,” Louis pouts.

“What a shame.”

“I know.”

“Yeah, you’re too pretty to be left by yourself,” Harry says and now he’s definitely blushing. It doesn’t seem like he’s joking though.

He clears his throat. “What about you?”

“Just out with some friends,” Harry answers vaguely. “Don’t know where they are now.” He doesn’t seem too worried about that either. He leans further into Louis until their noses almost touch. Louis can’t stop watching his lips, they are red and shiny and perfect. He wants to kiss him so much he can’t form a coherent thought. “Do you wanna-?” Harry stops talking abruptly and leans away from him. Louis almost whines. “I’m so sorry.” Harry is looking at his phone now. “I have to go.”

“Are you kidding me?” This just can’t be happening right now.

“I’m sorry, I just…” Harry looks from Louis to his phone for a moment, clearly conflicted, but finally he says, “I have to go.”

Louis stares open mouthed at Harry’s retreating back, still not really believing what just happened. He leans into the bar, trying to hide his boner. He doesn’t want to be the creepy guy in the club who can’t keep it in his pants.

  
\--

 

Louis is eating cereal and watching reruns from Teen Mum when Liam comes home the next day.

“You know, when I imagined the outcome of last night, this really wasn’t it” Louis says, taking in Liam’s dishevelled appearance. “You have a love bite on your neck.”

“Shut up, Lou,” Liam says blushing and brushing his neck (as if that would make it disappear). He sits down next to Louis on the couch and changes the channel. Louis doesn’t even bother protesting, he knows Liam hates Teen Mum but really it’s not his fault that it’s the only thing on MTV on a Sunday.

“So, how was it?”

“It was good.”

“Are you gonna see her again?”

Liam shrugs, Louis knows him well enough to know that that is a no, but Liam doesn’t want to come off as a jerk.

“Well, I’ll let you know that my night was a lot worse than yours.”

“Oh, yeah?” Liam is not even looking at him. Louis thinks that he could at least pretend to be interested.

“Yeah, I thought I was going to go home with a really fit guy but he left at the last moment,” he tells him anyway.

“How come?” Now Liam does look interested. Louis thinks that he enjoys his pain.

“We were about to kiss when he looked at his phone and said he had to go. I think he was either straight and just looking for a laugh, or someone died.” Louis has tried not to think about the incident too much, for the good of his self-esteem.

“Sorry, mate, that sucks.” At least Liam looks sympathetic. Louis supposes it has everything to do with him getting laid last night, otherwise he would be telling Louis to suck it up.

He doesn’t tell Liam about his encounter with Harry in the ice-cream shop, or about how he’s never felt so attracted to someone before.

He figures there’s no point now, really.

 

\--

 

A week passes and Louis forgets all about what happened at the club (really, he doesn’t wake up in the middle of the night with a hard on because he had been dreaming of green eyes and a raspy voice, nor he blushes in the middle of the day when he remembers how mortifying it was when Harry rejected him).

It’s Tuesday night and he’s grabbing a burger to go because he just ended his shift at the ice-cream shop and he’s starving but he doesn’t feel like socializing at the moment.

“Hey, Lou!” Until he hears Niall’s voice calling him from one of the tables. Louis puts a smile on his face and heads over there, but his smile disappears when he sees who’s sitting next to Niall. Harry. Of course. Louis has a moment of panic thinking of how he looks (with old jeans and an oversized t shirt, hair down and sweaty after spending a whole afternoon serving ice cream) before remembering that it wouldn’t matter if he looked like a model, Harry is probably not interested in men and clearly not interested in him.

“Hi, Niall!” he says forcing a bright smile anyway. He’s not gonna let Harry see how embarrassed he still is.

“How are you, mate? I didn’t see you last Saturday.”

“Yeah, I looked for you but I couldn’t find you,” Louis explains, trying to fight the urge to look at Harry. He can sense him looking at him with a weird expression on his face, something like regret, or maybe is pity, Louis is not sure of anything concerning Harry anymore.

“Oh, this is Harry!” Niall says suddenly, gesturing towards him. Harry stops staring at Louis when he hears his name, startled. “He’s the friend I was talking to you about, the one who invited me to the club. Haz, this is Louis, from my Film class.”

Louis mutters an unenthusiastic “hi”, unwilling to let Niall know that they know each other and how. Harry seems to think the same ‘cause he just returns the greeting smiling shyly at him, but he doesn’t comment anything else.

“Why don’t you join us, mate? I haven’t seen you in forever,” Niall asks, apparently not noticing the tension between Harry and him.

Louis is about to politely decline (he wants to hang out with Niall but he doesn’t want to suffer and evening sitting next to Harry, debating between the embarrassment over their last meeting and the lust he still feels every time he so much of looks at him), when Harry speaks, “Yeah, Louis, we were just about to order something for dinner.” He’s smiling and looking at him like he wants him to stay.

“Sure, I was just gonna grab a burger to go or something,” he says in the end. He can’t say no to the both of them (he has a passing thought of how much of a loser he might seem, eating alone, but it’s not as if he can do something about it).

Harry looks pleased and moves over on the booth to make room for Louis to sit. Louis sits down next to him trying not to touch him even the slightest bit.

“So, how’s the job at the ice-cream shop going?” Niall asks once they’re ordered.

“Well, I almost killed a kid who instead of eating his ice cream put it all over my shirt but apart from that, all good.”

Harry laughs like it’s the funniest thing he ever heard. “I’m sure that would be a good excuse for homicide,” he says with an adorable smile.

Louis can’t help to smile back. “Yeah, no jury would condemn me after spending an afternoon working there.”

After that, the rest of the evening goes smoothly. Harry and Louis talk and laugh and Louis barely notices that, by the time they have finished their dinner, Niall is not sitting with them.

“Hey, where did Niall go?” he asks, interrupting Harry’s story about the first tattoo he got and how he almost passed out (he takes an eternity to tell something, talking slowly and making long pauses. Louis doesn’t mind).

“Oh, he’s over there talking to some friends.” He points towards one of the booths at the end of the restaurant, where Niall is chatting with a rather large group of people. “He told us like fifteen minutes ago, didn’t you hear him?”

Louis doesn’t want to admit that he was too busy staring at Harry’s dimples so he says, “He knows everybody, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah, I met him when I’d just moved here to Uni and he introduced me to someone new like every day. I feel like I know half the campus thanks to him,” Harry says smiling. He never seems to stop smiling. Louis likes it, he loves his smile.

“You can meet a lot of assholes that way too.”

“Some, I guess, but most of people he hangs out with are cool.” Harry is looking at him and Louis can’t look away.

There’s a lull in their conversation after that but is not uncomfortable. Louis wonders how is that possible when they barely know each other.

Finally, Harry clears his throat. “So, look, about Saturday night…” he starts, scratching his neck awkwardly.

“It’s fine, Harry, you don’t have to explain,” Louis cuts him off not willing to be let down nicely and increase his embarrassment over the whole thing. Harry seems as reluctant to talk about it as Louis, so he drops it. Suddenly the air between them is awkward. “I think I’m gonna go. You’ll say good bye to Niall for me?”

Harry nods and Louis stands up, taking out his wallet to pay for his food.

“Hey, Louis,” Harry says before he can leave “I didn’t want to go on Saturday but I didn’t have a choice, just so you know.”

Harry is looking at him like he’s waiting for a response but Louis doesn’t know what to say. In the end he just nods, waves him goodbye and leaves. As much as he wants to, he doesn’t look back at Harry before closing the door.

  
\--

 

Louis is busy making a gigantic ice cream cone with extra chocolate when Liam comes into the ice-cream shop the next day. He’s so surprised to see his friend there that he almost drops it. Liam hates the place, says it’s too bright and too noisy. Louis can’t even argue with him, he’s right.

He hands the kid in front of him his ice cream (he barely represses saying him “enjoy your cavities”) and when he’s out of the shop, asks Liam, “What are you doing here? I thought after what happened last time you vowed never to come back.”

Last time Liam came to visit a kid threw up all of his ice cream on his shoes. Come to think of it, maybe that’s the reason that he doesn’t like that shop, and not the fact that it’s painted a bright yellow and there’s always shrilly pop music bursting through the speakers.

Liam makes a face, surely remembering the puke on his new (and expensive, Louis had to pay for them) shoes. “I was bored, thought I’ll stop by.” He’s clearly lying and Louis knows it, Liam may have become more sarcastic and outspoken over the years but Louis is still able to tell when he’s not saying the truth.

“No, really,” Louis says, eyeing him disbelievingly.

Before Liam can answer, a bunch of costumers come in and Louis has to prepare their ice creams and milkshakes. When they are gone, Liam has draped himself over one of the stools and, very casually, asks, “So, whatever happened with the guy from the club? Did you see him again or something?”

“Who have you talked to?” Louis asks crossing his arms. He can’t believe this is happening. It’s just too coincidental.

“Nobody! I just- ok yeah. “Liam seems to realize that there’s no way Louis is gonna believe him. “Niall called me earlier.”

“I hate that you two are friends now,” Louis says. It’s not true, he actually likes that his best friend since forever and his new friend get along well (although, who wouldn’t like Niall? Or Liam, for that matter) but he hates it when they team up against him. “And I don’t know what he told you, but it’s most likely not true.”

“He told me that you and his friend Harry had dinner with him yesterday and you two seemed about to do it on the table. And turns out Harry was at the club on Saturday too, where he met you.”

“See? Not true. You can’t believe anything Niall says.” But Louis can’t look at Liam at the eyes. He stares at the counter he’s wiping instead.

“That’s already clean, Lou.” Is all that Liam answers. Louis sighs, dropping the cloth and raising his head. “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”

Louis knows that Liam only asks because he cares, not because he wants to pry or make fun of his suffering, so he tells him how he met Harry at the ice cream shop last week, and how he really liked him but he doesn’t think he has a chance.

“Are you sure? It sounds like he’s into you.”

“Oh, yeah, he sure seemed into me when he practically ran away when we were about to kiss,” Louis says bitterly. Liam flinches. “Sorry, it’s not your fault. I’m just frustrated and tired of thinking about this.” He looks at his watch. “My shift it’s almost over. Can we do something after? I really don’t feel like staying in.”

“Sure. We can go have a few pints at that pub, the one near Uni?”

Louis nods and smiles. He really loves Liam.

  
\--

 

Louis is going to kill Liam.

“Did you know they were gonna be here?”

Sitting at a table near the door and staring at them are Harry and Niall. Louis is contemplating hanging himself on the ceiling fan.

“I swear I didn’t, Lou. It’s a coincidence,” Liam says and Louis can tell he’s saying the truth. It doesn’t make him feel any better though. He’s really getting tired of all this coincidences; somewhere someone must be having a laugh with his pathetic life, for sure.

Niall and Harry are waving them over and Louis is not that rude to ignore them. Liam isn’t either and he’s started to head towards their table.

“Liam! Lou!” Niall greets them like he’s really happy to see them. Or maybe he’s just happy in general. That seems to be his default mode. “I’m gonna start to think that you’re stalking us.”

Louis forces a laugh. “You caught me, Nialler, I just missed you too much.”

“Haz, this is Liam, Louis’ friend. Liam, this is Harry.” They both shake hands politely. “You’re sitting with us, right?”

“Sure.” Liam says and Louis wants to strangle him.

By chance of destiny (or because Liam and Niall are assholes) Louis ends up, once again, beside Harry.

 “Hi,” he says shyly. “It’s nice seeing you again, Louis.”

“Yeah, you too,” Louis replies without looking at him. He looks at Liam instead who’s watching them and sends Louis a look as if saying ‘See? He likes you’. Louis ignores him. He’s tired of making an ass of himself.

There’s kind of an uncomfortable silence after that, but luckily Niall breaks it when he starts to tell a story about a crazy girl he met last week. Louis tries to pay attention to him but he’s hyper aware of Harry next to him. It doesn’t help that Harry is staring at him, not even bothering to pretend he’s listening to Niall.

“What?” Louis asks quietly.

Harry shrugs. “You have chocolate syrup in your neck.”

Oh great. Does he always have to look like an idiot in front of Harry? Louis quickly scrubs his neck and then licks the chocolate of his finger. “All good?”

Harry is looking at him biting his lip. He swallows. “Yeah,” he says weakly. “All good.”

Liam and Niall seem to realize that neither of them are paying any attention because they get up, supposedly to order another round. Louis and Harry stay at the table without saying anything until Harry breaks the silence. “I’m sorry if you didn’t want to come with us,” he mutters looking at his half empty beer. He seems sad for some reason and Louis doesn’t like it, he wants Harry to smile again.

“Don’t worry,” Louis replies. “I did want to hang out with you I just didn’t want to impose.”

“You’re not! I like talking to you.” He’s blushing now and it’s not fair that it makes Louis even more attracted to him.

Louis doesn’t know what to say after that so he changes the subject. “So, you never did tell me how it went with your tattoo. You were about to pass out before the needle touched you when I interrupted you.”

Harry smiles brightly, that one smile that shows his dimple and Louis loves, and finishes his story (he didn’t pass out and got the tattoo, not a very exciting end, but Louis doesn’t say anything). By the time Niall and Liam come back, Louis is telling Harry about the time he and his friend Stan tried to slip in the girls’ locker room in school.

“But do you even like girls?” Niall asks, having caught the last part of the story. Harry is looking at him with interest now, waiting for his answer. Louis rolls his eyes, ‘cause, honestly.

“I had to give Stan my moral support!” he answers.

“You’re so selfless, Lou.”

“You know me.”

They all laugh but Harry’s eyes shine with something like relief. Louis hopes he’s not just imagining things he wants to see.

“Hey, we should play pool!” Niall suggest after a while. “The table is clear now.”

They have already downed a few rounds of beer so they all show a lot more enthusiasm to the idea than is necessary, probably. Louis is not drunk, but he feels pleasantly buzzed and somehow he ends up in a team with Harry against Liam and Niall.

“I feel like I must warn you, I suck at pool,” Harry says. He has also drunk a few beers, his cheeks are a little blushed and his green eyes are brighter than usual. He looks beautiful.

“No worries, we’ll crush them anyway. Liam is really bad too.” Harry laughs and Louis can’t help but join him even though it wasn’t really funny. He must be drunker that he thought.

Turns out Harry’s not bad at pool. He’s worse. Louis doesn’t care though, and he smiles encouragingly every time it’s his turn to shoot. Liam is bad too but Niall is kind of good so the teams are somehow even. In the end, there’s just the black ball on the table. It’s Harry’s turn and he looks like he doesn’t know what to do. Louis decides that it’s a good idea to show him.

“Over here,” he says getting behind Harry and guiding his hands on the stick. He places it so that Harry can hit the ball and get it into the hole. “Like that.” He doesn’t know why he whispers, he doesn’t even know why he’s so close to Harry, not that Harry’s exactly complaining. “Now shoot.”

Louis gets away from Harry so that he can make his shot. The ball speeds off and lands neatly into its hole.

“Oh my God, Lou, I did it!” Harry says excitedly. It’s the first ball he’s scored in the whole game. Louis is as excited as Harry and he can’t help but hug him. He freezes when he realizes what he’s done but Harry just returns the hug.

“Thank you,” he says on Louis’ shoulder. And it’s kind of ridiculous, Louis just helped him win a game of pool, he hasn’t saved his life or anything like that. He moves away from the hug to tell Harry that but they are closer than he thought and they end up with their faces millimetres away.

“Hi,” Louis says instead.

“Hi,” Harry replies softly.

Someone shouts loudly over the game on the TV in one of the tables and they separate hastily. Louis looks at Liam and Niall. They are engrossed in a conversation, pretending not to notice their two friends practically humping each other metres away.

Harry smiles at him softly but there’s something in his expression, like regret or annoyance, like maybe he didn’t want them to be interrupted. Louis is sure he’s not imagining it this time (at least he hopes he isn’t).

“Hazza, we have to go,” Niall says then, and he seems to regret having to say it. Harry looks like he’s gonna complain but Niall looks at him meaningfully. Louis would like to know what they’re saying to each other.

“Yeah, we do,” he sighs finally.

They say their goodbyes and Harry hugs Louis before he can say anything. “Bye, Lou,” he whispers softly and Louis feels a shiver down his back. Probably because of the AC of the pub.

“Bye, Harry.” He doesn’t want to but finally they separate and, with a last wave, Harry leaves with Niall.

Louis doesn’t need to look at Liam to know that he’s watching him with a mischievous expression on his face. “So, you were right, he’s totally one hundred per cent not into you.”

“Shut up,” Louis replies, but he can’t stop smiling. Only then he remembers that he didn’t ask Harry for his phone number.

Shit.

  
\--

 

_I think you’ll have to be my pool partner more often, it’s the first time I got a ball in. xxx_

_This is Harry, btw._

Louis smiles. He knows he must look like a thirteen year old girl with a crush, but he can’t help it.

_how did you even get this number, stalker?_

He doesn’t have to wait long for a response.

_Niall gave it to me. Sorry, hope you don’t mind?_

As if. Louis rolls his eyes but the smile hasn’t left his face.

_don’t worry, I don’t. And I’m always happy to help you get a ball in. xx_

Not a minute has passed when his phone beeps with a new message. Louis smiles.

  
\--

 

Louis is cleaning the ice-cream dispenser and completely not pouting. He’s not thinking that he hasn’t seen Harry in almost a week, since the time they played pool together, because he doesn’t care. Not at all. They have texted though, practically every day (and Louis is trying not to read anything in the fact that Harry is always the first to text him. It’s not working. Not in the slightest.).

“Has that machine done something to you?” A voice that Louis would recognize anywhere (and it doesn’t make him shiver, thank you very much) interrupts his thoughts.

“Harry! Missed me already or you just wanted some ice cream?”

“Well, your mango ice cream is delicious,” Harry answers. “But I don’t mind seeing you.”

They smile at each other like idiots for a moment until Louis regains his senses and looks away. “Alright, one mango ice cream right away,” he says clearing his throat.

Harry eats his ice cream slowly while Louis tries not to look at him too much. He’s not very successful. Harry doesn’t say anything until he has almost finished it, startling Louis out of a very vivid daydream of licking mango ice cream out of his nipples.

“So, do you remember how I told you that I play with a band sometimes?” Harry asks somehow shyly. Louis remembers. He remembers like he remembers everything that Harry’s told him (even the name of his childhood goldfish, Bubble, before he flushed him down the toilet).

“Yeah. Why? Do you need back up or something? I’ve been told I sing quite well.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Harry giggles. “We have a gig this Saturday. It’s at a small pub and we’re being paid in drinks but it will be fun.”

“Ok.” Louis doesn’t want to assume anything at this point; he’d rather wait for Harry to spell it out.

“I’m asking you to come, Lou.” Harry’s eyes widen and he adds, “I mean, if you want to, of course. You can bring Liam and- whoever, really-“

“I’d be there,” Louis cuts him off. “I’ll ask Liam too.”

“Great!” Harry’s smiling brightly now. “We are not that good, just, you know, having a good time.”

“Yeah, that’s what you say now. I’m sure I will have to fight your groupies to even get a chance to say hi to you.”

“It wouldn’t be much of a fight,” Harry mutters. Louis looks at him to find him already staring. They stay like that for what feels like an eternity until Harry starts to lean in, gaze fixed on Louis’ mouth. Louis swallows but doesn’t pull away, instead, he gets as close as he can with the counter in between them. He can almost feel Harry’s lips on his, their noses brush and Louis closes his eyes, waiting.

“Oh my God! Is it hot today or what? I think I melted just from walking here!”

They both pull away with a start to find Hannah, one of Louis’ co-workers, furiously fanning herself at the door.

She looks at them raising her brow. “Everything ok?”

“Sure!” Louis manages to say. “This is Harry, Harry that’s Hannah.”

“Oh, yeah, I know you,” Hannah says getting behind the counter and putting on her hat. “You came by the other day, right?”

“You did?” Louis asks confused. He didn’t know that.

“Yeah.” Harry’s still a little blushed from before and he doesn’t look at Louis when he talks. “You know, just wanted some ice cream, I guess.”

Hannah smiles at them knowingly. Louis has never had a problem with her but right now he thinks he could strangle her. He can still feel the almost kiss of Harry’s lips. He clears his throat.

“Well, I better go,” Harry says then. Louis wants to protest, he wants him to stay and kiss him. “I’ll text you about Saturday, ok?”

“Alright.” He tries to look cheery and not frustrated. He doesn’t think he’s making a good job, but Harry doesn’t look too happy about the interruption either. “Bye, Haz.”

Harry’s eyes brighten at the nickname. “Bye Lou,” he says softly before leaving.

When they are alone, Hannah looks at Louis mockingly. He glares at her. “What?”

She only laughs and greets the costumer that just came in.

  
\--

 

“Lou, seriously, you’ve tried five outfits already and they all looked good, stop getting more clothes out of your closet and choose one already!”

Louis barely spares Liam a glance, too busy closely inspecting a pair of jeans. “You don’t understand, Liam.” He decides that the jeans are going into the ‘maybe’ pile.

“We’ve been here two hours and I don’t even know why you need me, you do whatever you want anyway,” Liam grunts falling onto Louis bed without bothering to put aside the shirts laying there first. Which, rude.

“Because your advice sucks.”

“I think I liked it better when you pretended like you were into Harry and didn’t care about him at all.”

Louis stops sorting through his boxers (he really hopes a certain someone is going to see them tonight) and glares at Liam. “Just for that now I’m not taking you with me.”

“Fine by me. I won’t have to watch you two flirt like fifteen year olds and stare longingly at each other.” Liam says it like it’s a bad thing. Louis thinks that he quite likes to stare longingly at Harry, as long as Harry stares at him too.

“But I need you there for moral support!”

“Well, first we have to get there and for that you have to actually get dressed, don’t you think?”

Louis rolls his eyes and huffs. He so liked Liam better when he was sweet and quiet.

Finally, despite Liam’s predictions, Louis is ready with enough time for them to get there before the band starts.

It’s only when they are about to arrive to the address Harry texted him last night that Louis starts to really feel nervous. He had been repressing his nerves all day by telling himself that it’s really not a big deal and, even though there had been a few awkward incidents between them (Louis still can’t explain the whole club fiasco), Harry does like him.

“You look good, Lou,” Liam says and Louis knows that he’s noticed that he’s nervous and it’s his way of telling him that he doesn’t need to be. Bitchy comments and all, most of the time Louis doesn’t know what he would do without Liam.

The pub is basically what Louis expected, small but warm and inviting. There’s actually a bit of a crowd and Louis wonders if that’s just a normal Saturday night or Harry’s band is more famous that he let on.

“Oh, look, they’re over there!” Liam says pointing towards the bar. Beside it there’s a small stage in which Harry and a few other guys are setting up their equipment.

When he takes a good look at Harry, Louis mouth waters and his eyes widen. He always looks really good but tonight there’s something else there. Louis is not sure if it’s his outfit (black skinny jeans and a ripped, unbuttoned plaid shirt) or just his whole stance, all ready to go on stage and pumping with energy. Even from where they are Louis can feel it.

“Let’s go say hi,” he says swallowing the lump on his throat. He takes a step towards them but freezes. A fit, dark haired guy has approached Harry and is now talking to him, Louis feels like he knows him from someplace, but doesn’t remember where. They seem comfortable together, like they’ve known each other for a long time. They hug then and there’s definitely something going on there.

“Lou…” Liam starts to say, but Louis is not listening to him, he’s staring at Harry and his friend, who are still hugging tightly without noticing or caring about anyone around them. He tells himself that it’s nothing, Harry is clearly an affective and tactile person (he’s hugged Louis and they don’t know each other that well yet), that’s probably just one of his friends.

“Hey, Harry! Stop grinding with your boyfriend and come help us!” yells one of the guys on the stage. His voice echoes through the pub straight into Louis’ chest. He suddenly remembers why the guy feels familiar, he’s the one Harry was dancing with that night at the club, the one Louis thought he could never compete with.

Liam looks at him like he doesn’t know what to say but Louis turns around, not even bothering to spare another look at the couple. “I think I’m feeling sick. I have to go,” he mutters. He can hear Liam coming after him but he quickens his pace. He doesn’t want to talk with anyone.

He feels a pressure on his chest and his eyes sting but he refuses to cry. It’s not like he thought that they would fall in love and ride into the sunset together, he just found Harry fit and wanted to sleep with him. He can’t even believe that lie for a second, the truth is he hadn’t like someone as much as he liked Harry in a long time (he thinks never, actually) and that had pretty much nothing to do with his looks. He really thought that they could have something.

He wasn’t going anywhere specific but he somehow ends up at a park. He sits down on a bench feeling sorry for himself. Alright, so the guy he liked and led him on turns out to have a boyfriend. It’s not a big deal, Louis will get over it.

He hopes.

  
\--

 

_Hey, Lou is everything ok? I didn’t see you on Saturday xx_

_it’s been a week since we talked, did I do something?_

_can you at least call me back to tell me you’re ok. I’m worried_

Harry’s texts and missed phone calls fill Louis’ phone to the point that he doesn’t even read them anymore. He doesn’t care about anything that Harry has to say. He really wants to text him something like ‘ _why don’t you ask your precious boyfriend, which you never even mentioned?’_ but he figures that he can at least be the bigger person and ignore him.

Liam has been trying to cheer him up and avoid mentioning what happened at the same time. He tried to talk about it with Louis when he finally came back to the flat after spending who knows how long sitting on a bench in a park by himself, but Louis told him harshly that he didn’t want to hear anything. Now he looks at him like he’s going to break at any moment and it grates on Louis’ nerves, so he tries to avoid him.

He’s been avoiding Niall calls as well, actually, the only thing he does apart from moping in his room is going to work. The ice cream shop kind of reminds him of Harry (but then again, he’s thinking about him all the time, anyway) but at least there he doesn’t have to deal with Liam’s pity and has an excuse to turn off his phone.

The downside of spending so much time by himself is that he has a lot of time to think. And his thoughts aren’t very pleasant. He’s constantly repeating in his head all of his interactions with Harry, trying to pinpoint where exactly he went wrong. He analyses every word and glance, but starts to second guess the things he was so sure of before. Maybe he and Harry never were about to kiss, maybe Louis had imagined that. Maybe he had imagined the sexual tension between them as well, and the innuendos and the flirting.

Or maybe, he thinks bitterly (and that’s the possibility he finds most likely), Harry was just playing with him, stringing him along and leading him on to have a laugh with his beautiful boyfriend after. Louis can’t associate that with the nice person he got to know over the past few weeks but it seems like he can’t be sure of anything anymore.

The only thing he knows is that he needs to get over this, get over him, and stop moping before he turns crazy.

Yeah, easier said than done.

  
\--

 

“I’ve already told you, I’m not going.” Louis folds his arms petulantly and turns to the TV.

“C’mon, Lou. It’s a party! We will have fun, you’ll see.” Liam sighs loudly. “You were the one that was always bugging me about staying in on a Friday night.”

“You can still go out, nobody’s stopping you.”

Liam’s looking at him like he’s a spoiled brat who just wants to make his life harder (Louis is kind of offended by that, he just had his heart broken, his friend could be a little more considerate and understand the he doesn’t want to go party it out).

“It’s been almost two weeks, are you planning on staying home by yourself the rest of the summer?”

“I haven’t decided that far yet.” Louis turns to Liam and feels a little guilty when he sees the worry in his eyes. “I just don’t feel like going out tonight. Maybe tomorrow,” he says, even though he knows that the chances of him going out tomorrow night are slim at best.

“Look I didn’t want to tell you this, but I kind of need you there,” Liam says. Louis raises his eyebrow doubtfully. “That girl from my class is going to be there and I’m going to need moral support to talk to her.”

“What girl from your class?”

“The one from sociology, Kimberly. I’m always talking about her, remember?”

Louis vaguely remembers Liam rambling about some girl from one of his classes but he can’t remember the class or the name of the girl. He also didn’t thought it was such a big deal but Liam seems nervous and Louis may be upset and sad but he’s not a bad friend. If Liam needs him he’s going to be there for him.

“Let me go get dressed.”

  
\--

 

The party is definitely not what Louis was expecting. Instead of a shitty flat filled with people drinking cheap alcohol and grinding on pop music they are at a nice enough apartment (big and airy) and there are people dancing, but the music comes from a DJ on one of the corners of the room and it’s anything but mainstream. Everybody seems to be drinking wine or at least fancy cocktails and Louis doesn’t think he’s seen so many thick-framed glasses and plaid shirts in his life. Needless to say, he feels uncomfortable and out of place as soon as they walk through the door.

“Whose party is this, again?”

“Eh… I’m not sure. Seems fun, though, right?” Liam doesn’t even look like he believes his own words but Louis forces a brief smile. If his friend needs his moral support, he’s going to have it. “C’mon let’s go get something to drink.”

By the time Louis has chosen a drink that doesn’t seem like something his grandfather would drink but that he can stomach at the same time, he’s lost Liam. His friend is nowhere to be seen and Louis wonders if he’s with that girl already. Probably, everyone has more luck in the romance department than him.

He strolls around the apartment not expecting to see anyone he knows. He’s right, not one of the guests of the party is even familiar to him. He’s starting to doubt this is even a Uni party; the vibe is not like that at all.

When Louis is about to go home, bored out of his mind and pretty sure that Liam doesn’t need him, his friend finds him.

“Lou! I was looking for you.”

“You were the one that disappeared,” Louis grunts. “Everything alright?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Liam seems distracted, he doesn’t look at Louis. “Hey, come here, I just saw Katie and I need to talk to you about something,” he says, guiding Louis towards the hall.

“Who’s Katie?”

“The girl from my class I told you about.”

“Wasn’t her name Kimberly?” Louis asks confused. But before he can say anything else he’s being shoved into a room and the door closes behind him. Inside, sitting on a bed and looking miserable is, of course, Harry.

He stands up abruptly when he sees Louis. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“This is my mate’s Nick party. I was just taking a breath.”

Louis turns to the door and tries to open it. Sure enough, it’s closed. Suddenly everything starts to make sense. “Liam, when I get out of here I’m going to kill you!” he shouts to the door, even though he’s not sure if Liam is still at the other side or, after completely betraying his best friend, he has decided to top off the night with some dancing. “I didn’t know you would be here,” he says to Harry. He feels like he needs to get that clear.

“Yeah, me neither. I guess our friends like to play cupid or something,” Harry mutters and Louis looks at him like’s insane. What is he playing at? “Don’t worry, I won’t bother you. They will have to leave us out at some point.” He is sitting on the bed again and he looks everywhere but at Louis.

“Seriously? You are mad at me?” Louis can’t believe it. “That’s rich.”

“Why can’t I be mad at you?”

“You are- No you know what? I’m not doing this.”

“No, tell me.” Harry’s standing up now, looking at Louis with his hands on his hips and anger in his eyes. Louis has never seen him like this before.

“Ok. First you toy with me, flirting like you’re interested and then leaving me hanging. Like, do you know how many hours I spend wondering if I was imagining everything or you were just an asshole that was leading me on? And then I find out about your boyfriend. The one you didn’t even bothered to mention. I guess you two have had a real laugh with me, the naïve idiot that thought he had a chance with you.” He takes a deep breath after his rant but he feels better already. It doesn’t change the situation but at least he has been able to let off some steam.

“Boyfriend?” Harry asks weakly. He looks like he’s struggling to keep up with all of what Louis has told him and he’s looking at him with his brow furrowed. “What boyfriend?”

“The one you were cuddling with the night of your gig! Dark haired, tattooed and gorgeous?” Louis says bitterly.

Harry looks confused for a second and then his eyes widen and he starts to laugh. Louis feels his cheeks heat and he drops his gaze. There’s a window in the room and he’s starting to consider jumping through it. He doesn’t care that the flat is in the twelfth floor, it would be definitely better than this.

“You think Zayn is my boyfriend?” Harry is still laughing. Louis doesn’t think any of this is funny.

“You seemed very chummy together. And your mate called him that.”

When he sees Louis’ miserable expression, Harry sobers up. “He was just messing around. Zayn is just my friend, my best friend, but that’s it,” he says seriously.

Louis looks at him warily. “Really?”

Harry nods. “So, you did come to my gig,” he says. He’s smiling again, full dimples on, and Louis hadn’t realized how much he missed his smile until now. Harry takes a step towards him but Louis takes a step back, almost hitting the door.

“Wait, I’m still not sure was going on here. How do I know you’re not going to suddenly leave without an explanation?”

“Well, we are kind of trapped,” Harry snorts. Louis looks at him unimpressed. “Sorry. I know that I’ve been a jerk to you sometimes.” Louis is going to protest but, well, it’s sort of true. “But I swear I don’t have a boyfriend. Zayn just broke up with his girlfriend and he’s been going through a rough time. That’s why I had to leave at the club, he needed me, and that’s why we were hugging.”

Ok, that actually makes sense. “That’s all, then?” Louis asks raising his brow. Harry looks at him smiling coyly and Louis can feel a bubble of hope surge on his chest.

Harry is been getting closer to him and they are almost touching now. “I’ve kind of been dying to kiss you since I saw you for the first time. Can I?”

Louis doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t need to. He shortens the distance between them and brushes Harry’s lips with his. His lips are soft and he can feel Harry’s eyelashes flutter against his cheek when he closes his eyes. Harry’s hands are on his waist and Louis does something he’s wanted to do for a long time, he sinks his hands on Harry’s curls, feeling the soft hair between his fingers.

He can’t believe he has been moping all this time when they could have been doing this. In fact, he never wants to stop doing this. They kiss sweetly and slowly for a few minutes when a though passes Louis’ mind and he pulls away.

“Really? Since you saw me for the first time? Even with the hat I was wearing?”

“Even with the hat,” Harry confirms. Louis is smiling so widely he thinks his cheeks are going to burst. “Can we go back to the kissing?”

His lips are full and red and how is Louis supposed to say no to that? This time the kiss is desperate, hungry, like they can get enough of each other. Louis thinks that may very well be the case. Harry pulls away this time, to trail kisses down his jaw and throat. When he bites at the skin there, Louis gasps and says, “how comfortable are you fooling around in your mate’s bed?”

Harry smiles mischievously. “Very.”

Louis really hopes no one comes looking for them until the morning.

 

\--

 

“Hey! A little help here?” Liam comes into the flat with his arms full of bags.

Reluctantly, Louis pulls away from Harry’s mouth. “I think you got it, Li, we wouldn’t want to mess up your system.” Harry giggles into his neck and Louis swears he feels butterflies on his stomach. He wonders when he’ll stop reacting like a teenager with a crush. He’s not really worried about it, though, not when Harry looks at him like he’s the best thing that ever happened to him.

Liam grunts loudly leaving the shopping bags on the kitchen counter. Louis thinks he’s making a bigger deal out of it than necessary; they are just a couple of shopping bags. He’s about to tell that to his friend when his mouth gets occupied by something better, or rather, someone better.

“You know, I’m basically the reason you two are together right now so you could treat me a little better.”

“Didn’t Niall help too?”

“Yeah but I was the master mind behind it all. I couldn’t take your moping one more day.”

“Excuse you I wasn’t moping!” He protests while Harry laughs beside him. “I wasn’t,” he tells him.

“Sure, love,” Harry says pecking him on the nose. “By the way, that reminds me, Niall said we all have to hang out again. He wants a rematch of pool.”

“Of course, man,” Liam says from the kitchen. “We can call Zayn too.”

Harry introduced them to Zayn shortly after the day of the party. It took Louis two minutes to realize that there wasn’t anything between Harry and Zayn but brotherly love and no sexual tension whatsoever. He ended up really liking the guy, which Harry is thrilled about.

“You’re gonna be on my team, right?” Harry whispers in Louis’ ear. He feels goosebumps on his neck.

“Always.”

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is basically 10k of Louis rambling but well... I hope someone likes it and I'm looking forward to reading all of your opinions!  
> And my tumblr is braveryandtea in case anyone is interested :)


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